Happily or Otherwise
by doryfishie
Summary: It wasn't Happily Ever After, but it was close, and with a little hard work anything is possible.


**Note: I've worked on this fic for...I don't know, a lot. I'm really pleased with how cute it turned out. When I started I was having...I don't know what you would call it...obsession isn't the right word...I guess I'll just say I was contemplating Fairy Tales a lot. I like the ending, mainly because I couldn't think of anything to add to it. That's what an end is right? Anymewho, reviews are appricated and any constructive critism is welcome with open arms!**

**Listening to: Annie's Song (John Denver)**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, everyone would be paired with whoever I felt like at that moment and nothing would get done...kinda like Ranma1/2...**

_-There once was a timid Princess who was the heir to a great and prosperous clan-_

She hadn't read fairy tales when she was young. It had started after her mother had died. She had needed an escape from the pressure of the Hyuuga clan, her only one having passed. At first she had believed in the religiously. But as she grew, the barage of hurtful words weakened the protection of her stories. Soon they were gone and she was again blasted by the full force of her family's cruelty.

However, she continued to read the fables, but instead of believing in them, she laughed. It was a harsh laugh, full of scorn for the princesses who were weak and knights in shining armor who thought they could save them, the peasants whose lives were hard, and the princes who took them away. That wasn't how life was, she knew that, because if it was, someone would have saved her.

_-Plans had been laid long ago for her to wed the son of another affluent clan-_

"...The original ploy was to use Hanabi to the link Uchiha and Hyuuga by marrying your elder brother, but as I have found Hinata otherwise incapable and your brother is--"

"Dead."

Pause. "I shall make Hanabi my heir and you may marry Hinata. Is their any objection?" Singular. She knew he was not asking her.

"My mother wanted it, correct?"

"Yes, though she was originally adverse to it, Fugaku-sama made her see reason."

"But it was willing right? At the end, when she signed it, no one was forcing her."

"No one forced anyone into this contract Uchiha-san."

"Then I don't care."

And that was how she found she out about her engagement to Uchiha Sasuke.

_-Eventually the day came when the timorous Princess was bound to the heartless Prince. Forever after she would live with him, happily or otherwise…-_

It was deceptive, the wedding. It looked like something out of the fairytales, but she knew better. The white lace hid the bride's tear-stained cheeks and the red roses drew attention away from the groom's frown. This wedding would definitely not lead to her happily ever after, but she hadn't expected it to.

In the month until the wedding, her father scheduled several 'dates' for her. On them, she would dress nicely, wait for her fiancé to pick her up, and they would go to a restaurant of some class where they would spend an hour in silence. Eventually, the silence grew to peacefulness, and Hinata grew to like the meals they shared, before and after the wedding.

_-Living with the Prince left little to be desired-_

In many ways, living with Sasuke was a relief. She was finally free of the Hyuuga compound, a place of rules and regulations. Now she lived in a smaller compound, though equally elegant. In this world, she made the rules, and answered to no one because there were none there. No one berated her, no one hurt her, she could do whatever she wanted.

Sasuke rarely spoke to her, but treated her with respect. He didn't touch her, and dealt with her clan's badgering of children, saying he did not wish for any while he was still in ANBU. When he found about her love of cooking, but lack of proper skills, he had her take classes. He gave her money, a key, and space. She could not complain. He was not Naruto, but he wasn't unkind.

_-The one thing she did not have was Love-_

Naruto-kun: her handsome prince, her daring knight. In all her fairy tale fantasies, he had been her significant other. Even after she had given up on fairy tales, Naruto had been there. He had given her strength, like her mother and the fables before, but his was different. He helped her find strength inside of herself, showed her that anything was possible. He was her first ever hero.

However, dregs of her fairytale life still remained, and the admiration she had for him was quickly confused with love. It was the sad fact she had been forced to come to terms with the eve of her marriage. It had been hard, and traces of her love still remained, the idolatry had never left, but eventually she stopped fainting whenever he came over in favor of a light blush.

_-She did however, have a handsome, if cold, Prince...-_

The first time Hinata had gone out, she was met by a hoard of girls. Angry girls, mad at the fact that a nobody was married to their Sasuke-kun. She didn't know what she would have done if the object of their affections had not shown up. At dinner that night, she wondered why so many girls would try to attack her because of an arrangement.

It was then that she realized just how attractive Uchiha Sasuke was. He was tall, dark, handsome, powerful, mysterious, the list went on and on. In short, she had married Konoha's most sought after bachelor without realizing it.

-..._a beautiful palace...-_

She loved the Uchiha Compound. It was perhaps more elegant than the Hyuuga one. Many elaborate works of art hung on the walls, and there were peaceful gardens scattered throughout it. What she liked most though was the sense of mystery surrounding it. It had been clear from the beginning that no one had lived here for many years. Even Sasuke had chosen to live in an apartment rather than in this haunted area. When she had asked why he had stared off in the distance, and she knew. Hinata felt honored that he would make such a sacrifice for her.

_-...and freedom from Evil-_

Without harsh words and the berating, she had been able to acquire the rank of Jounin. Sasuke, never one for emotions, had congratulated her roughly when she had arrived home to dinner already made. It had been one of her favorites.

When her father sent word that he required her and her husband's presence at dinner the next night, he had seen her fear and had sent a message back, saying they were busy. When the requests continued, Sasuke eventually got annoyed, storming over the Hyuuga compound. What he had said she knew not, only that all letters from her father had stopped. Contact between the Hyuugas and Uchihas became limited, and only between the heads.

Sasuke had freed her from her family.

_-It was not Happily Ever After, but it was close-_

"What are you reading?"

"Aaaa!"

"I didn't mean to startle you."

"O-oh, n-no, it's not your fault. I s-should have been paying more attention."

"You didn't answer the question."

"Oh, a-ano, i-it's r-really nothing..."

"You were engrossed enough not to here me come in."

"I-I...a-ano...um...it's ano..."

"I could just take it from you if you'd rather."

"Y-you wouldn't– Waaa!"

After she bravely clung to the book for several minutes, he eventually won, standing up so he towered over her and looked at the cover: "Hmm.._The Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales_. Why am I not surprised?" He drawled, smirking. She blushed. "Well, I guess since it's so good, I should read some."

"N-No!" Hinata cried as he sat on the couch, "I-its quite alright th-they aren't really...I-I-I mean you wouldn't..." she stumbled, hoping something she said would have him stop.

He looked at her, ebony eyes amused, "How would you know?"

"Oh, I-I'm sorry, I just didn't think y-you liked..." she trailed off.

"Fairytales?" after finishing her sentence, Sasuke's expression suddenly lost all traces of humor, "I've never read one."

She looked at him in astonishment, "N-never?"

"Never."

And that was how former Hyuuga Hinata found herself reading out of _The Grimm Brother's Fairy Tales_ to her husband, Uchiha Sasuke.

She picked one of her favorites. Snow White was a rather long tale for this particular volume, but she enjoyed the happy ending. The only thing he had to say about it was how stupid the stepmother was for not just slitting her throat. When she laughed, he glared.

"It's true though. Why go through such trouble when you only need to get a knife or something?" He seemed truly troubled by the lack of sense the characters had.

"It's for the sake of the plot. I-I think it's very creative," she responded quietly, not sure if her declaration would upset him.

He merely stood up and stretched, "It is creative, but not very practical. However, the red-hot slippers idea might be a good torturing technique."

Hinata remained sitting as she watched her husband walk away, thinking of the many ways her life was similar to that of Snow White.

_-And it's said that with a little hard work, anything is possible-_

When two people have been living together for several months, it is easy to establish a routine activity the couple do together. With his ANBU schedule and her hospital emergencies, Hinata and Sasuke had yet to do such a thing. One would have expected it to be dinner, but that was rarely consistent, as were sleep schedules, vacation times, and mission assignments, it would have been impossible to fit regularity in there.

So they did the next best thing. Reading fairy tales at one in the morning is perhaps the most conventional method of bonding, but it was convenient.


End file.
